Following the agreement in the European Union Council on 18 November, 2013 and the favourable vote by the European Parliament on 20 November, 2013 on the new regulations regarding the Cohesion Policy, the way is now clear for the start of the implementation by EU Member States including Malta of the Cohesion Policy for the programming period 2014-2020.  The legislative package is expected to enter into force in the coming days so that member states may start accessing these funds as of 1 January, 2014.

All 28 EU Member States together with the European Commission and the European Parliament expressed their satisfaction at this positive outcome during last week’s Informal Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Cohesion Policy hosted by the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in Vilnius on 26 November, 2013 at which I had the honour and privilege of participating.

In my intervention during the meeting I expressed my appreciation for the work done by the Presidency, the European Parliament and the Commission services in order to agree on a package that will provide a sound basis on which concrete projects can be delivered on the ground in the next seven years.

The main objective of the Vilnius meeting was to assess how the commitments of EU Ministers to improve the quality of spending through greater concentration of resources, integrated development, the coordination of investments and increased performance are being translated into practice through the programming process in order to identify possible challenges and constraints. In particular we were invited to reflect on how and whether the policy innovations are making a difference to the approach of the Member States in programming and implementing Cohesion Policy 2014-2020.

The scene for our discussion was set by a presentation by EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn during which he gave an update about the state of play with respect to the preparation of the Partnership Agreements by Member States.  In our case we submitted the Partnership Agreement (PA) last October.  We are now awaiting the informal observations by the Commission on our PA before we finalise it, together with the Operational Programmes in order to deliver high quality documents that will lead to a more effective implementation on the ground.

During the Ministerial Meeting it was emphasized by the Commission that the main objective of the reform is to ensure that cohesion policy investments are focused on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, thus contributing to the priorities and targets set at EU level and in the national reform programmes and responding to the challenges identified in the relevant country-specific recommendations.

The Commission highlighted the importance of ex-ante conditionalities  which are necessary to ensure framework conditions are in place for effective and efficient spending. 

The Commission maintained also that setting clear specific objectives in Operational Programmes for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and Cohesion fund is at the heart of the new result orientation.

Finally the Commission stressed that more coherence can be achieved through a more coordinated use of the Funds.

The new elements that are being introduced by the new regulatory framework will constitute both a challenge but also an opportunity for the next round of programmes. With respect to thematic concentrations, and indeed the increased focus on the EU 2020 objectives, Malta had supported the idea in principle. However, in my intervention I highlighted at the same time the importance of retaining sufficient flexibility in order to ensure that in the programming process Member States’ specificities would be duly taken into account. This sentiment was echoed by other speakers.

Focusing resources on a limited number of thematic objectives to achieve critical mass, and from there, the required results, is important; however, it should not be a means to an end.  It is also necessary to ensure that the actions we will be implementing will have an impact not just on getting the numbers right but also in assuring that our citizens’ quality of life and standard of living truly continues to improve.  In this regard, the EU 2020 objectives of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and the strategies that are designed to achieve these goals must take into account the specific circumstances of Member States and resources concentrated on those areas that will deliver tangible results on the ground.

This also means that at the level of Operational Programmes we will have to ensure that the selection of investment priorities will truly address the needs that are felt on the ground and that a mix of interventions may be required to do this such as in the energy, environment, SMEs and social/healthcare sectors just to mention some examples.

Under the EUs 2014-2020 budget, Cohesion Policy will invest €325 billion in Europe’s Member States for them to deliver the EU-wide goals of growth and jobs as well as tackling climate change, energy dependence and social exclusion.  Taking into account the national contribution of member states, and the leverage effect of financial instruments, the overall impact is likely to be more than €500 billion.

Malta’s total Cohesion Policy package for 2014-2020 is expected to be around €767.8 million. Through the Operational Programmes we will aim to concentrate these resources on the key growth areas to avoid fragmentation of funding across numerous objectives as was the case in the current funding programming period 2007-2013 which led to numerous problems.

When drafting the Operational Programmes we plan to target resources at the key growth areas.  In particular under the ERDF we will be concentrating our resources on innovation and research, the digital agenda, support for the small and medium-sized enterprises and the low carbon economy meaning energy efficiency and renewable energies.  Through the Cohesion fund we plan to address key environmental projects while through the European Social Fund we will make significant contributions in the field of employment, for example through training, education and life-long learning initiatives similar to the Master It scheme which was so successful. It is worth mentioning that at least 20% of the ESF allocation will have to be used to support this objective.

The meeting in Vilnius was the start of process towards the implementation of the Cohesion Policy by all 28 EU Member States that will contribute to stimulate growth and ensure sustainable development in Europe.  We plan to be part of this process.

Ian Borg is the Parliamentary Secretary for EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds